Hopefully the Cowboys’ “secret sauce” goes well with beef.
As if not having defensive tackle Jay Ratliff for the first six weeks of the season wasn’t bad enough, they may now have a conflict between him and team employees.
According to Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com, Ratliff hinted at issues with the team’s strength and conditioning staff, a day after he was placed on the reserve/PUP list with hamstring and groin injuries.
Ratliff did not rehab at the team facility this offseason. Asked today why he didn’t, he replied: “That’s a good question”
“I do, but rather not say,” Ratliff said. “ Let’s just keep the focus on these guys going out there playing and winning games. I’m not going to be here and be a distraction to everybody. Just stay professional about the whole situation, but everyone involved knows what’s going on.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones denied any knowledge of an issue, which has kept Ratliff off the field since the pre-camp conditioning run.
“Absolutely I’m disappointed, but everyone knows what the issue was way beforehand,” Ratliff said. “Everyone knows what it was since last year, much more, I’m not going to go into much more detail other than that.
“It’s not a hamstring tweak. That’s all I have to say about that.”
Ratliff was given some latitude in dealing with his condition, but he’s obviously not on the same page with the team, giving them one more problem to solve.